Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales

by Heather Fawcett

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 354
Series: Emily Wilde #3
Rating:

Synopsis:

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell's long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell's murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell's magic-and Emily's knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’m not sure if Heather Fawcett is planning to end the Emily Wilde series with Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, but it wouldn’t be a bad spot to do so, with Emily and Wendell retaking his kingdom and trying to settle down to rule it. As you’d expect in a fairy tale, it doesn’t go quite so easily (and also that wouldn’t make half such a good story).

I did get a bit stalled on this one, but it was due to life events, rather than being about the book — when I was in the mood to read it, I ate it up in big gulps, om nom nom. I love Emily and her determined, matter-of-fact nature, and I love Wendell and his fairy-strangeness (tempered perhaps by his time among humans).

I also loved getting to see more of Taran, and the fairy court in general, and the appearance of some old friends into the bargain. And for those who might worry about Shadow (Emily’s dog/eldritch beast), he’s doing just fine by the end.

I continue to love the format of a female scholar getting entangled in big events through pursuing her curiosity, though Emily charges into it a bit more directly than my other favourite (Isabella, from Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent books).

Rating: 4/5